Tenants of two Hell’s Kitchen buildings say they’d do a better job of running the properties than their landlord at a Saturday rally in support of a New York state bill that would let them do just that.
Elected officials, housing advocates, and tenants gathered outside 438 West 45th St. on Saturday to support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)—a bill that would give tenant organizations in New York the right to make an offer on their apartment building when it’s up for sale.
“We are seeing our gentrifying communities being sold to the highest bidder,” said State Assembly member Marcela Mitaynes, who sponsored TOPA in the assembly, at the Saturday protest. “We are taking our power back.”
Four years ago, the two buildings at 438 and 440 West 45th St. were owned by Daniel Ohebshalom—an infamous landlord who was sent to Rikers Island last year for failing to make repairs at two different Washington Heights properties…